Tennis - Maria Sharapova practices the art of Hot Yoga

Tennis - World no. 2 Maria Sharapova has been recovering from a hip injury that she suffered at Wimbledon last month and the Russian has been practicing the art of Hot Yoga during her time away from the courts. Sharapova tweeted this picture of herself after a session of Hot Yoga, which is described by Wikipedia as - Hot yoga refers to yoga exercises performed under hot and humid conditions.

Often associated with the style devised by Bikram Choudhury, hot yoga is now used to describe any number of yoga styles that use heat to increase an individual's flexibility in the poses. In colder climates, hot yoga often seeks to replicate the heat and humidity of India where yoga originated.

Some forms of hot yoga include: - Bikram Yoga was brought to the U.S. in the early 70s and became the most widely known form of hot yoga. - Forrest Yoga combines yoga asana with Native American spirituality to create as a "yoga sweat lodge" in a heated room - Power Yoga is derived from Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and uses heat to replicate environmental conditions in Mysore - TriBalance Yoga another form of hot yoga, performed in slightly warmer but less humid conditions than Bikram Yoga - Moksha Yoga founded in 2004 by Jessica Robertson, Ted Grand, and Natalia Brajak in Canada.

This style of yoga is performed in a room heated to approximately 100 degrees and follows a series of 40 asanas, though teachers are free and encouraged to bring their own unique knowledge and experience to their class Sharapova announced yesterday that she is withdrawing from next week's Rogers Cup in Canada but she will travel there to launch her range of Sugarpova candy.

The Russian, who was also named the Richest Russian Celebrity, has hired Jimmy Connors as her new coach and the two have been working for a few weeks already. Sharapova is now expected to return for the Cincinnati event. The US Open begins in New York on August 26th.